Avengers- the Runaway
by Rossaldinho7
Summary: Maddie was running. She never wanted this. She never wanted to be a hero. Now she was running, running from her responsibilities, running from people who were supposed to be the good guys, running from her fate.
1. Chapter 1

**This story was adopted from the Roman Ravenclaw. On their profile, it was called Zero to Hero and it was being put up for adoption by other authors. I asked for the story and he gave it to me. I'll be using the same main character name, but the character had far too many powers and too generic a backstory. I'd like to create something original. She will not have all the powers she had in the original story, I'm experimenting here, but I thought she could have the power to control water and air, as well as the ability to teleport. I'm busy with other stories at the moment, as well as LEAPS summer school, so I probably won't be able to write much of this for a while, but if you have any ideas for it, please tell me in the reviews. **


	2. Chapter 2

It was just a normal day for Maddie Breeze. That meant school and yet more classes at Herrington High. There was nothing positive about this day at all. Maddie was a nerd in the eyes of the school, although she did not like to think of herself as one. Her and her friends were in a singing group and they rehearsed in the music room after school every day. That was what pushed her into going to school today. It was worth enduring the day to sing with her friends afterwards.

Even when she was with her girl-friends, Maddie still felt isolated. She felt different from everyone else. On her 13th birthday, Maddie had found out she was able to fly and manipulate the air around her to create wind. She wasn't sure why or how she got these powers, but over the next few months, she developed the power to control and manipulate water in all three states of matter. Because of her powers, she always felt she was alone, even when she was in a crowd. Nobody knew about her secret. Not even her best friend Sandra.

A little girl was crossing the street as Maddie walked to school. A car was speeding towards her, careening out of control.

"Run little girl!" shouted Maddie, running towards her, knowing she would not be in time to save her. Suddenly, she vanished, and appeared next to the little girl, before vanishing again, appearing on the other side of the road.

"You have to be careful when crossing the road," said Maddie "Especially on your own, you don't want to get hurt, where are your parents?"

"They died," said the girl "It's just me on my own now."

Maddie felt pity for the girl "Look, I've got to go to school, but I'd like to talk to you afterwards," she said "Could you meet me in the play park at the end of the street at 5.00?"

"Sure," said the girl "My name is Jane, what's yours?"

"Maddie," Maddie replied "I gotta go now."

Maddie left, heading for school.

The day was as boring as Maddie had anticipated. In P.E, every dodge ball seemed to find Maddie. In RMPS, the teacher taught them about Muslim life. English, Maths and Spanish passed in quick succession without Maddie even realising, she was anxious to get back to the park and talk to the little girl. She wasn't sure why, but she was somehow drawn to her. There was something about Jane that made Maddie pity her and want to help her.

Maddie blew off her band practice and went to the park at 5:00. Jane was there, sitting on one of the swings.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Maddie?" asked Jane, swinging lightly.

"I want to help you, Jane," said Maddie "My parents died when I was very young too, I was adopted by a loving family and they took me in, they'll do the same for you."

"You're very kind," said Jane, smiling "But I'm not just providing for myself, I've got a lot of the homeless kids living on the streets here depending on me, they've had bad experiences in care and don't want to go back into it, I'll be better off on my own."

"That's a heavy burden for someone so young," said Maddie "If you ever need any help, you ask me, O.K?"

"I will," said Jane "And if there's anything I can help you with, I will do my best to help you too."

"I should go," said Maddie, turning "I need to get back."

"Goodbye Maddie," said Jane "Shall I see you tomorrow?"

"Same time, same place," said Maddie, holding out her hand to Jane. Jane took her hand and shook.

Jane turned and ran down the street. Maddie headed for her home.


	3. Chapter 3

**School Gates**

As Maddie got to school the following day, she saw her best friend Sandra waiting for her.

"Hey Sandra," said Maddie, hugging her friend as she walked up "You get that history assignment done?"

"Yeah," she said "I don't see the point to History, I mean, why learn about things that have already happened?"

"If we didn't learn History, we would not learn from History," said Maddie "Look at slavery, if we never learned about how bad it was and the history behind it, we would grow up thinking the concept of slavery was O.K."

"Yes," said Sandra "But if History had happened differently, we would be having a different conversation, probably about the merits of slavery, so has History really taught us anything, all its really told us is that if things happened differently, we would act differently today."

"There's more to it than that," said Maddie slowly, as if explaining it to a primary school kid

"No there isn't," said Sandra, while Maddie stuck out her tongue at her. They both laughed.

"I wish you were more honest with me, Maddie," said Sandra, her smile fading "I know there's something you're not telling me, and I know you must have a good reason for it, but I've seen you battle with this secret, whatever it is, I wish you would share it with me, good or bad, we'd still be friends."

"I can't, Sandra," said Maddie "It's not a question of trusting you, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't want to push you," said Sandra "If you ever decide to tell me, I'll be there for you."

The two hugged again, but with more feeling than a simple greeting.

Maddie had decided to tell her friend everything, and had just opened her mouth to tell her, when the bell rang for registration.

"I'll talk to you later," said Sandra, running off to her registration class. Neither girl knew, that this was probably the last time they would see each other for a long time.

**Registration**

Maddie sat in registration, thinking about the little girl she had saved. Jane was a strong girl who stayed on the streets to help others. Maddie considered that that might be what she should be doing with her powers, helping people like Jane.

"Maddie," said her registration teacher Mr Droll

"Yes sir," she asked, looking up from her desk. She noticed that her teacher had company. A black haired man was standing there.

"Could I speak to Maddie outside please?" asked the man of Mr Droll

"Very well," said Mr Droll

Maddie followed the man out of the room.

"Listen very carefully, Maddie," said the man "I represent an important intelligence organisation, we have reason to believe that there is a group of people looking for you."

"Who are these people?" asked Maddie

"They call themselves the Avengers," said the man "And they are evil villians who have destroyed many of our scientific research bases, killing our researchers in droves, trust me Maddie, you need to run."

"I should go to the police," said Maddie, fearfully "They can handle things like this, why haven't you gone to them?"

"The police are taken in by the Avengers' public face," said the man "They have a PR called Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasp, who knows how to make the Avengers look good on camera, as long as the world believes the Avengers are the heroes they say they are, the police will not go against them."

"I'll run," said Maddie "Thank you for this warning, goodbye."

Maddie vanished, leaving the man alone.

"That worked," said the man, before pulling out a com link "Reaper to AIM, she's on the move, it worked just as you said it would."

"Of course it did," said a voice on the other end "Now she will run from the Avengers and right into our waiting hands."


	4. Chapter 4

**Play Park**

"Jane!" shouted Maddie "Jane, where are you?"

Jane appeared round the corner and ran up to Maddie "What's up?" asked Jane, noting Maddie's terrified expression "What's wrong?"

"There's a group of bad people chasing me," she said "I need to disappear, is there any way you can help me?"

"Being unnoticed is our speciality," said Jane "Come on."

Maddie followed Jane off the streets and towards a small forest on the edge of town.

"When many of us were made homeless," said Jane, as she led Maddie through the trees "We were forced into shelters, but the shelters could not feed us all, so those of us that were strong left the shelters and set up a camp in the forest, hunting for our food."

"So, you're like a modern day Robin Hood?" asked Maddie, not quite understanding.

"I wish everyone saw it the way you do," said Jane "But ever since one of our own was attacked in the forest, and we dealt with the perpetrators, there's been mistrust from the people in the camp of outsiders and the outsiders' mistrust of us."

"Having a mutate or mutant or whatever they call us these days with you will only make your lives harder," said Maddie "Maybe I shouldn't have come."

"Another thing you should know about us," said Jane "We're all outcasts, you will not get prosecuted here, no matter how much they might distrust you at first."

"Thanks, Jane," said Maddie, as the pair of them entered the forest.

Jane lead Maddie in a complex zig zag through the trees until Maddie had lost all bearings of where she was. Eventually, they reached the camp.

**Avengers Mansion**

Tony Stark stood in the basement control room, just as one of the computers started up.

"Avengers Assemble," said Tony

The rest of the Avengers came into the control room.

"Reaper's been spotted at a local school in Florida," said Tony "No AIM presence in the area as far as I can see, but I might be wrong, if I'm not, we need to bring Reaper in."

"I've been monitoring that area for a while," said Hank Pym "There's been a lot of superhuman activity there lately, perhaps AIM is involved."

"We won't know until we get there," said Tony "Wasp, get the Quinjet started up, the rest of you, suit up and get ready to go."

The Avengers suited up, grabbing their weapons and entering the Quinjet.

The Quinjet took off, heading for Florida.

**Florida (Maddie's school) **

As the Quinjet touched down, Reaper was waiting for them, his blade at his side.

The Avengers all ran out of the jet, ready for battle. Reaper stood there, not even lifting his blade. "Maddie is gone, Avengers," said Reaper "You will never find her now, soon, AIM will have a weapon even more powerful than all of you combined."

Without warning, Reaper charged, his blade up. Iron Man sidestepped him and hit him on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground where Hulk pounded him, knocking him out and probably breaking a few of his bones in the process.

"He was a distraction," said Captain America "We need to search the area for this Maddie he spoke of, we'll need to split up, Wasp, Ant Man, you two split up and search the forest, Iron Man, check her house, find out the last time anyone saw her, Panther, Hulk, search the general area, when Iron Man finds out places she frequents, check there, I'll go check with the school, see if they can give me any leads to her whereabouts, Thor, you're aerial support, you see anything that might indicate an AIM presence here, you tell us, Black Widow, Hawkeye, go around the area and see what you can find out that'll help us."

The Avengers split up to search the area for Maddie, but none of them realised that there was someone else watching all of them from afar, laughing as they moved about looking for Maddie. The battle had not even begun, and the Avengers had already lost.


	5. Chapter 5

**Unknown Location**

A man in a black, business suit walked up to a man sitting on a throne. The man on the throne leaned forward, but all of his features were still hidden in shadow.

"Report," said the man on the throne

"Reaper has been detained, your majesty," said the man "The Avengers are searching the area for Maddie, Wasp is nearing their hideout, let's see how she fares against our new weapon."

A screen on the wall turned on to show Wasp flying through the forest. On a separate screen, a video of the camp where Maddie was camped came up. Maddie was talking to a young girl named Jane. Regretfully, the man had been unable to convince Jane to join his cause, but had places spies and cameras around the area to watch her, soon, AIM would make its play to bring Maddie over to their side, by any means necessary.

As Wasp neared the camp, the man pressed a button and spoke into his com link.

"Proceed with Operation: Honeybee," he said

"Understood, sir," said another voice over the link, before terminating it. The man continued to watch. The Avengers were going to lose this time, and then there would be nothing to stop him from taking the world. He signalled to his men to ready his secret weapon and be ready to fire. The weapon charged up and then, when the men had determined their target, fired. 

**Jane's Camp**

The Wasp had reached the camp. Hiding in the bushes shrunk down, she looked around for a girl matching the description of Maddie. It didn't take her long to spot her across the forest clearing, talking to a younger girl. She changed back to her normal height and walked out of her hiding place, her hands up to show them she was not threat. She didn't get the reaction she was expecting. The children in her view brought up crudely made wooden weapons, sharpened and pointing at her, and one even held a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

"I mean you no harm," said Janet "Please lower your weapons, I just want to talk."

"Why should we talk to you?" asked the younger girl Maddie had been talking to "Everyone here are runaways, from a society that didn't have enough room for us, we follow no rules but our own, Maddie came to us for help and harbour, we will do what we can to protect her."

Before Janet could answer, an invisible beam hit her from above. She was still aware, she could see, feel, hear, smell and taste, but she was no longer in control of her body.

"I have a better idea," Janet heard herself say in an evil sounding voice "Avengers Assemble."

It didn't take more than a few minutes for the Avengers to converge on Wasp's location, but by then, all of the children, including Maddie, had vanished.

"Search the area," Janet heard herself say "They were just here, she can't have gone far."

Janet knew what had happened. Somehow, her body was being controlled from somewhere, and she was unable to move her own body.

_"Help!" Janet tried to shout, but it echoed in her own head, as if she was standing in an enormous cavern "Help, Help, Help." _

_She realised that none of her team would be able to hear her, she was trapped inside her own head with no way to get out. Who could have done this, and more importantly, what could she do about it? _

**Somewhere in the forest where Jane's camp was**

"Keep running," said Jane "Stay together, we're nearly out of the forest."

"The Avengers will be searching for us by now," said Maddie, panting slightly as she continued to run "Where is this second hideout you spoke of?"

"It's not far," said Jane "You'll be safe soon."

It wasn't long before Jane lead them to a sheer rock wall. In the wall, was a gigantic fissure.

"Go through," said Jane "Quickly now."

The kids climbed through individually, running into the cave beyond. Jane waited until the last of the kids had gone through the fissure, before leading Maddie through it too.

"Get as far below the fissure as you can," said Jane "During the night, when the temperature cools, the fissure will close and hide our entrance."

"How did you find this place?" asked Maddie, as she complied with Jane's orders to get down low.

"It was a long time ago," said Jane "Before I became homeless, I was out hiking here with my father when we discovered the fissure, today, I thought it would make a good hiding place."

Maddie's stomach rumbled. Jane smiled

"You hungry?" she asked "We stored quite a lot of our meat down here, it's cold deeper down, so it keeps it fresh."

She led Maddie down into the cavern below the fissure, where a few of the children had gotten a fire going and was already roasting a small animal. Maddie sat down next to the fire to rest, with Jane sitting down next to her.

"I still don't get it," said Maddie "The man who told me to run said that the Avengers were monsters and that they would use me for their own ends, but that woman wanted to help me for a few moments, before she called in the Avengers, it's like she had a complete change of character."

"You told us the man also told you she was a good liar, how can you be sure she was showing you the real her when she talked to you the first time?" asked Jane

"I had a good feeling about her," said Maddie "Then it turned out she was just distracting me until her team was in position."

"That's not necessarily true," said Jane "I had the same feeling, but then she changed, to be honest Maddie, I'm just as confused as you are."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," said Jane "But for now, let's eat."


	6. Chapter 6

**Jane's Hideout- Just before Dawn**

A group of men and a little girl were just leaving the hideout.

"You won't be able to get back in before nightfall," warned Jane "Good luck, bring us some extra food back, our supplies are running low."

"Don't worry about us," said one of the men "We'll be fine, Jane."

"Be careful," said Jane "The Avengers are still looking for Maddie and we're not sure if they're still searching this area, when you come back, make sure you aren't followed."

"Understood," replied the girl. The six of them slipped out through the fissure just as the sun came up, causing the rock to expand and hiding the entrance.

Jane walked back into the lower area of the hideout. She checked the cave where Maddie and the rest of her people were sleeping. Nobody was awake yet. She knelt on the ground, putting her hands either side of a small crack running between her legs. She closed her eyes and slowly moved her hands apart. When she opened them, the crack had widened enough for her to drop through to another, hidden cave below. She stared into the hole for a moment, until her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, then held her hand out, palm up, and concentrated, until a tiny ball of light appeared there. She threw the ball of light into the hole, were it floated about halfway between the widened crack and the floor of the cave below her. She eased herself into the hole, then held onto the two sides of the fissure and closed it, dropping to the floor of the cave as she did.  
Concentrating on the light, she made it larger and brighter until it illuminated the entire cave.

She then clenched her hand into a fist at her side and slowly started to raise it. As she did, a large rock raised up from the ground until it was at eye level. Then, she opened her hand, causing the rock to fly a few feet and crumble into dust, falling to the ground in pieces.

"Don't blame yourself," said a voice from the darkness on her right. She leapt around, her fists clenched and two rocks floating in the air. She relaxed as a figure stepped into the light of her light ball, holding a fireball.

"Why shouldn't I blame myself?" Jane asked "It was my powers that got us into this mess, and now I find I can't even control them right."

"You seem to be doing fine with the light," said the boy "Maybe you should concentrate on that."

"If I did that, my brother, I would not be fulfilling my full potential," Jane explained "If I don't fulfil my full potential, then what good am I?"

"You know, my suggestion to join the Avengers is still open," said Jane's brother

"The Avengers are the ones chasing us, Jack," said Jane "They're looking for Maddie, who also has powers."

"I'm sure there must be a misunderstanding," said Jack, surprised at Jane's opinion "The Avengers are heroes."

"The Wasp came to the camp under a false guise of friendship, and then called in the other Avengers to attack," said Jane "Although both myself and Maddie felt there was something wrong with how that happened."

"What do you mean?" asked Jack

"I'm not sure," said Jane "It seemed like she had a complete change of character, that might have been how she really was and she had just been putting on an act, but somehow, I felt that there was someone else talking through her, like it wasn't really her speaking."

"If there's one thing I learned from our experiences," said Jack "Then it's to trust your feelings, I'll go find the Avengers, and see what I can do about Wasp."

"Thank you, Jack," said Jane "There is one more thing I want to ask, should I tell Maddie about my powers?"

"It's your choice," said Jack "It's your secret to give away, but as she's shared her secret with you, and she's on the run, she's not likely to tell anyone your secret if you tell her."

"I agree," said Jane "Good luck, brother." Jack slipped back into darkness, the fireball in his hand brightening slightly to light his way.

**Jane's Hideout- Morning**

Maddie awoke, stretching out on the surprisingly comfortable stone floor of the cave. As she sat up, she saw that the cave around her was empty, but she could hear merry voices from somewhere. She got up and walked towards the voices, eventually finding a cavern that seemed to have been changed into a dining hall. Tables were everywhere and all of the men, women and children amounting to about a few dozen, were all sitting at the tables eating. Maddie saw Jane across the cavern, beckoning. Maddie joined her at the table.

"What's new?" she asked Jane

"We managed to get enough money last night to replenish our food supplies," said Jane "So we're all having a bit of food."

"What's the news on the Avengers?" asked Maddie

"They're still searching for you," said Jane "They must really want you on their side."

"I still can't believe they're trying to capture me," said Maddie "They're supposed to be the good guys."

"I sent one of my best men to keep an eye on them," said Jane "He'll report back tonight."

"Good," said Maddie, tucking into the food on the table in front of her.

"There's something else I wanted to tell you," said Jane "I know you have powers, I've been watching you for a while, the truth is, I have powers too."

Maddie, having just drank from a cup on the table, immediately spit it out. Coughing as Jane slapped her on the back, she looked at Jane.

"What do you mean you have powers?" asked Maddie.

"I can create light and manipulate the earth," said Jane simply "Let me show you."

She held out her hand, palm up. Maddie watched as a small dot of light appeared there and expanded until it filled her palm.

"That's cool," said Maddie

"I don't think the Avengers are evil," said Jane "They're being manipulated by someone or something to hunt us down."

"Honestly," said Maddie "The more I think about it, the more I agree with you."

"You should come and train with me," said Jane "I have a hidden cave within this place which also has an escape route out of here if we need it, I use it to try to hone my power over the earth."

Maddie considered. She had not used her powers since she had left home to escape the Avengers, so she was a little out of practice.

"Let's go," said Maddie, finishing her breakfast and standing up from the table.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jane's Training Cave**

Maddie faced Jane across the cave. A glass of water stood next to them.

"You go first," said Maddie "Show me your earth powers."

Jane closed her eyes and put her hands out over the ground. A large boulder rose to Jane's chest level and then flew towards Maddie. Before it reached her, it turned to dust and fell to the ground.

"I can't maintain it enough to hit anything," said Jane "It's a useless power."

"Not necessarily," said Maddie "You can't hit anything with a rock that big, but you can do just as much damage with smaller rocks in large numbers, here, I'll give you a target."

Maddie pointed her hand at the glass of water. A small ball of water came out of the water and floated in front of Maddie. It then split into four smaller droplets of water and these droplets expanded until they were the size of Maddie's arm. The four ice crystals floated apart from each other and varied their distance from Jane.

"All right," said Maddie "I'm ready, try to hit the icicles."

Jane concentrated and brought up four smaller rocks, then aimed with one, while having the other three rocks circling her wrist. The first rock hit the far left-most icicle, causing it to spin in its place in the air.

"Good," said Maddie "Next one."

Jane lined up her second rock and fired. Again, the crystal was hit and again, it was pushed away from her. Jane lined up her third rock, then fired at the third crystal. The rock hit the crystal so hard, that it shattered, and then changed direction, hitting the other crystal too. It also shattered. Maddie was so shocked that the other two crystals she was still holding up dropped. They almost smashed on the cave floor, but Maddie regained her composure and stopped them.

"You see," said Maddie "You don't need to concentrate on making a giant rock and throwing it, you wouldn't be able to concentrate on keeping them together long enough to hit, if you want to use that large rock, use it as a shield, not a sword."

"What do you mean?" asked Jane

"For example, If I threw an icicle at you, it wouldn't be able to go through a big rock," said Maddie "It could be really helpful against Avengers like Wasp and Iron Man, Wasp's blast wouldn't even dent it, Iron Man's would shatter it, but the discharge would mean you wouldn't get hit by it, I think it could even be used as a shield against Hulk for a time, the only things you might have to worry about are Captain America's shield and Black Panther's vibranium weapons, they'd probably be able to cut through it, just don't try to throw it at them and you'll be fine to combat the Avengers, and that's not even factoring in your light power, adding that in, you should be able to hold your own against them no problem."

"Thanks Maddie," said Jane "It means a lot the faith you have in my abilities."

"You need to have confidence in your abilities, Jane," said Maddie "If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to."

"You know," said Jane "You'd be a fantastic super hero strategist."

"I just think about how your particular powers might be used to fight the foe I think we'll be fighting," said Maddie "I hope it doesn't come down to a fight between us and the Avengers, but if it comes to it, we'll need to come up with a way to beat them."

"We'll keep running, Maddie," said Jane "We won't hand you over to them, and fighting them will only slow us down."

"You're probably right," said Maddie "We can never be too prepared, though."

"Yeah," said Jane "You're right too, shall we keep training?"

**Jane's Training Cave (A few hours later)**

Jane waited in the cave. Her brother was due to return soon and she was eager to tell him about her newfound control of her powers. She also wished to know how his spying on the Avengers had turned out.

Soon, she heard the echo of approaching footsteps. Jack had returned and he had someone with him. The man with her brother was slightly taller than him and was wearing a black outfit with yellow eye sockets. She recognised him as the Black Panther, one of the Avengers.

"You brought one of the Avengers here?" she asked "Are you insane?"

"It's all right," said Jack "They just want to talk, Black Panther is a honourable man, and he has left all of his weapons with the rest of the Avengers, Iron Man detected radiation from the mind control blast fired at Wasp, and he's using an interference wave over the Avengers radios to make sure they aren't taken over too, I staged a fight with Black Panther, who had noticed my presence, and took him here."

"If you believe he can be trusted," said Jane "I believe you, but until I find out why he's here, he's not getting to see Maddie."

"Well, Panther?" asked Jack "Tell us what's been happening."

"Jarvis detected a disturbance at a school in Florida," said Black Panther "The disturbance was caused by the Grim Reaper, a famous AIM operative, he told us AIM was looking for Maddie to brainwash into working for them, I suspect that as you are running from us, that there was a little manipulation of Maddie before she left to believe that the Avengers weren't the good guys they seemed."

"Who could have done something like this?" asked Jack "It seems like a lot of trouble to gain one person."

"We don't think that was AIM's intention," said Panther "They know roughly where your bases are, they know you have powers, so I'd guess they want you two on their side too."

"Again," said Jane "Who could be behind this?"

"Iron Man's computer, Jarvis is working on narrowing down the enemies we've fought before, we should have the answer soon," said Panther "Iron Man knows everything I'm telling you, I know I can trust him."

"Thank you for your honesty, Black Panther," said Jack "Leave by the same way you came in, get back to your team, tell them where we are, knock out Wasp and come here, myself, Jane and Maddie will meet you, I'm tired of running, it's time to stand and fight."

"I'm glad you no longer see us as your real enemies," said Black Panther, then held out three com links "Here, these com links will connect you to all the Avengers but the Wasp, and run the same interference that the rest do to stop the mind control of whoever is controlling Wasp, we'll find the real enemy together, and we'll take them out."

"I guess we're allies for the moment," said Jane, putting on her com link "I'm glad, Jack, let's go back up to the cave."

The two siblings left up to the cave as Black Panther left the way he had come in. He was happy with how that went, now the Avengers and the three runners would work together to take out their true foe.

**Unknown Location**

"What do you mean gone?" asked the shadowy figure in the throne "I want those three kids found and under my control."

"Yes, sir," said a man, his hands shaking as he fiddled with the controls in front of him. The figure in the throne stood up and went to the window, looking at the Earth below them. The Earth turned and the sun illuminated the ten rings on the figures hands. His scheme was failing or perhaps already failed, but with his powers, he could still crush the Avengers and their new allies.

The Mandarin smiled as he contemplated the Avengers fate and the pleasure he would get from using one of their own to destroy them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Lab of the High Evolutionary- 16 years ago**

The Celestials had told him that fifteen years from now, there would be a villain called the Mandarin, who would wield the destructive power of his stolen Makluan rings to fight against the world and specifically Tony Stark. The Celestials had tasked the High Evolutionary with the task of genetically engineering the Mandarin's downfall. He developed a gaseous serum, which contained all the powers that were in the rings that the Mandarin would obtain and released the gas into the air. The gas was semi-sentient, programmed to seek out the people that were worthy to receive the powers to fight the Mandarin. This knowledge would be imparted on five warriors who would together be able to counteract the Mandarin's rings and fight the effects of said rings. The gas, once it had chosen it's host, would act like the mutant gene, the powers they would give manifesting at puberty.

The High Evolutionary had no idea how the powers would choose, if they would choose a single person for multiple powers, or impart only a single power on each person. All he knew that united, these people would be able to defeat the Mandarin. These warriors would be the only ones able to defeat the Mandarin for good.

**Lab of the High Evolutionary- Present Day**

Over the past 16 years, the High Evolutionary had kept track of the gas and who had been chosen. Five people had developed powers to combat the Mandarin, very soon, fate would unite them with each other and they would have to confront the Mandarin.

**AIM Lab**

Two children, about 13 or 14 years old, lay on experimental tables, unconscious. A team of AIM scientists in yellow biohazard suits were crowding around.

"Reaper to AIM," said a voice on a screen "How goes the experiments?"

"We've found their powers, sir," said one of the AIM scientists "One of them can create force fields, the other is telepathic and telekinetic, with the added bonus of being able to change into a telepathic null form, how goes your search for the others?"

"We've almost got them," said Reaper "Our leader has two of the Avengers under our control, and they trust one of them, we'll have them to that lab as soon as we've captured them, over and out."

**Outside Jane's Cave**

Maddie, Jane and Jack followed Black Panther out of the cave. Having let their guard down, they weren't expecting a trap and were caught by surprise when several blasts of energy hit each of them in the back, knocking them unconscious.

**AIM Lab**

When Maddie came to, her first sight was of several men in yellow biohazard suits around her with a lot of strange looking equipment. To her left, were four more beds, holding Jane and Jack as well as two other children.

"The subjects are awake," said one of the yellow suited men, then addressed Maddie and the others "Our leader wishes to speak with you."

The scientists moved to the side to reveal a plasma screen. A man appeared on it. He was tall and muscular. He seemed to be of Chinese or Asian descent and he wore ten rings.

"Greetings, children," said the man "I am known as the Mandarin, for years, I have fought against Iron Man, and the Avengers as they interfered with my plans for domination of this world, because of the threat posed by the Avengers, I could not allow another threat, such as you, to rise up, so I had my organisation capture you, you are going to die, children, I am not happy about that, but that is the way things must be."

The screen showing the Mandarin turned off. One of the AIM scientists put something on Maddie's arm. It was only then she realised what was going to happen. They were going to be given the lethal injection. Maddie willed water from the air to coalesce into ice in her hands and then brought it against her bindings. She cut through easily on both sides. Turning her head, she saw that Jack had also freed himself and Jane wasn't far behind. Maddie gestured to Jane and then to the scientists. Jane understood. Maddie quickly closed her eyes as Jane's hands shot a large amount of light at the ceiling. The AIM scientists fell to the ground clutching their heads as Maddie, her eyes still shut, pulled herself free of the bindings. Jane shut off the light and then unbound the other two children on the other tables. Maddie attacked the AIM scientists, still blinded by Jane's light power and unable to defend themselves. It didn't take her long to take them out.

"You saved us," said the girl from the furthest table, switching from a blue, sapphire-like skin tone back to normal skin "My name's Ella, you can call me Sapphire."

"Maddie," said Maddie "I don't have a secondary name, or code name or whatever that was, is your friend all right?"

"She's fine," said Ella, cutting the bindings on the second girl by turning her hands into sapphire blue "Come on Sarah, let's go."

The girl known as Sarah groaned as she got up, then stumbled.

"Sorry," said Ella "I think she was drugged on the way here, she's still suffering from the side effects."

"Don't worry about it," said Jack, taking one of Sarah's arms from Ella "We need to move fast, we might need to fight our way out, Maddie, you go in front, Jane, you go behind us, we need to be ready for an attack from either direction."

Maddie and Jane took positions to the front and rear of the party. They made slow progress through the maze of corridors. They didn't know where they were going or where the exit was. The complex was massive and none of them were awake when they arrived, so they had to guess at the directions to get out.

It was this, perhaps, that made them fall so easily into a trap. The corridor they had walked up was a dead end, and as they turned around to try another corridor, several AIM soldiers came around the corner, guns pointed at them.

Ella immediately changed into her blue, Sapphire form and got ready to fight. Jane closed her eyes, using all her focus to bring up a massive rock that covered the corridor behind them, blocking the men behind it. Once she'd finished, she slumped to the ground, exhausted, but she had halved the opponents they had to fight. Maddie and Jack both engaged the AIM soldiers, Maddie flying into the air and raining icicles on them, Jack remaining on the ground and firing fireballs from his hands. The fireballs were extremely accurate and hit the flame tanks on the backs of the AIM soldiers with flame throwers, blowing the tanks and taking out several AIM soldiers. Maddie's icicles hit more causing them to drop to the ground in pain, but no serious injuries. Maddie dropped from the ceiling, holding two ice daggers in her hands, she engaged the soldiers, slicing their guns in half. As the last soldier fell, they heard a commotion from the other side of the rock wall.

"We have to get through," said Jane in a tired voice "They need our help."

"You're weak," said Maddie "That wall took a lot out of you."

"I can get it back," said Jane "Energy cannot be created or destroyed, the energy to create that wall came from me, so when I get rid of it, I regain the energy."

"All right then," said Jack, standing to the side with Ella and Sarah "Go ahead."

Jane walked slowly towards the wall, then, without warning, punched it. The entire wall turned to dust. Some of the dust melted into Jane's skin, and she immediately felt better. The rest formed into small rocks that flew at the AIM soldiers on the other side of the wall. It was then that Maddie got a look at who the AIM soldiers were fighting. Several of the Avengers, including: Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow.

"All right, Jane," said Maddie "Hit as many as you can, but don't strain yourself too much."

"Got it," said Jane, now seeming full of energy, and the rocks flew at the AIM soldiers.

"Jack, aim for the gas tanks on the flame throwers, like you did back there, take out as many as you can, Sapphire, how's Sarah?" asked Maddie, as Jack complied with her orders.

"She's coming round," said Ella, still in her blue Sapphire form the better to protect Sarah. Maddie looked at Sarah to see her eyes fluttering open. The moment they opened, a blue force field encased the three of them.

"Can you walk?" asked Maddie, Sarah nodded "We're going to need you to stay over here, if you see any AIM soldiers coming from these corridors to join the battle, shout for us."

"All right," said Sarah, turning to the corridor she had been instructed to guard.

"Come on then, Sapphire," said Maddie "Let's join the fight."

Maddie flew over the top of the soldiers, aiming icicles with precision right through the guns, rendering them useless. Once the AIM soldiers were relieved of their guns, it didn't take long for Sapphire, Jack, Jane and the Avengers to take out the last of the AIM soldiers who still put up a fight, the rest had run.

"Maddie," said Captain America, panting slightly "We've been looking all over for you, we found out about Black Panther and Wasp's brainwashing, apparently they got to you before we apprehended them, how did you escape?"

"Five people with powers that AIM didn't even know we had?" asked Maddie "They didn't stand a chance."

"Jane used a light to distract them while myself and Maddie managed to free ourselves, then, we helped to free the other two, Ella and Sarah, we tried to run, but were cornered, we fought our way out and then you arrived," Jack continued "It's good you arrived when you did, we would have been wandering these halls for ages, this place is a maze."

"You'll be safe now," said Iron Man "Or at least, as safe as you can be in the middle of an AIM complex with who knows how many AIM soldiers coming to kill you right now and us just standing around talking."

"Stark," said Captain America "Be nice."

"No," said Jane "He's probably right, we should go."

The Avengers, Maddie, Jane, Jack, Ella and Sarah ran through the hole in the wall and towards the waiting jet. Ant Man, currently giant, was guarding it, obviously a deterrent for any AIM soldiers. As they entered the jet, they saw the unconscious forms of Wasp and Black Panther.

"They're all right," said Iron Man, removing his faceplate to talk to the five of them easily "They're just unconscious. They'll wake in a few hours. I managed to negate the mind control and trace it back to its source, if I'm right, we need to prepare for a journey to Space, and fast."


End file.
